Lines in the Pavement
by Rhapsody's Garlic
Summary: What if Hitomi had not returned to Gaea in Episode 24? What if her fate had been chosen for her? Things are completely different a few years later, and new challenges await...Rating subject to change. R&R, FH or VH
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: They do not own Escaflowne. This includes Hitomi Kanzaki, Amano, Allen, Merle, and Van. The cowled sorcerers are theirs, in a way, as well as the plot.

"Kanzaki, are you ready?" shouted Amano, clutching her pendant in his hand.

"Yes, on your call!" she replied, bracing her foot on the starting block. 'I hope this works,' she thought to herself. 'I have to see him again.' Suddenly the lights turned on, illuminating the track and the two figures standing on it. Hitomi turned to see a redheaded girl waving at her. 'Yukari,' she grinned. Of course, she'd be here. Yukari was her best friend. She felt a twinge of guilt that she had to leave her, but was comforted by the fact that her friend would now have the chance to be with Amano.

Turning away, she concentrated once again on the track. The bold white lines stood out in stark contrast to the muddy brown. She slowed her breathing and focused on her goal. It wasn't on the finish line as it usually was. No, this time is was on a certain young king with black hair and dark maroon eyes...

"Get set," shouted Amano, seeing that she was ready.

'Van, wait for me. I'm coming.'

"GO!"

The pendant dropped from the former track captain's hand and began to swing. Each arc was the same as the one after it, neither hurrying nor slowing down, just continuing relentlessly on its course.

Hitomi burst from the starting blocks, her legs pumping steadily as she concentrated on her goal. In Amano's hands, her pendant began to glow.

One . . . Two . . . Three . . .

&&&

"Master Dornkirk, it's ready," reported a figure. Like all the other men of the Sorcerers, he wore a dark blue cowl that covered his face completely, throwing his features into shadow.

"If we alter the pull between the Dragon and the girl . . .it should be possible to generate the needed energy to repel them from one another," said another.

"Yes, the bond will be destroyed. The girl and the Dragon will be separated for good."

&&&

'I have to see her again,' thought Van as he steered the Escaflowne in its dragon form up towards the Mystic Moon. The air whistled by his ears, tossing his unruly mass of black hair.

From the ground, a young cat girl sat on her rooftop and watched as the form of her beloved Master Van grew smaller and smaller, disappearing into the night sky, heading for the one he loved; the girl from the Mystic Moon. 'Master Van...'

Van urged the Escaflowne on. Heedless of the air growing dangerously thin around him, he focused all of his attention on getting to the Mystic Moon.

&&&

"The elemental particle of fate has reached critical. Activating the device."

Somewhere on Gaea, a gigantic mechanism whirred to life.

"Altering fate!"

"Altering fate!"

"Altering fate!"

&&&

_Four . . . Five . . . Six . . ._

'This is it,' she thought, anticipation humming through her body.

&&&

The Fate Redirector short-circuited and bolts of power shot out of the machine, striking down the Sorcerers.

&&&

Escaflowne vanished into the sky.

&&&

_Seven . . . Eight . . ._

The pendant flared up, giving off a blinding light for a split second.

Hitomi held her breath, waiting for the pillar of light to descend.

Suddenly, the pendant's light faded, disappearing like a snuffed flame. It left no trace of the glow that had been there only a second before.

&&&

Merle, who had been watching as the Escaflowne disappeared in a flash of light, was about to go back inside, when she saw another flash. Turning, she saw the Escaflowne reappear and begin falling from the sky.

"VAN!" she screamed. She was too far away to do anything and thought frantically for something she could do, but there was nothing. She could only watch helplessly as Van plummeted to the ground below.

To her relief, at the last second, she saw a flash of white as Van spread his wings to slow the fall. However, the momentum had been too much for him and he still crashed painfully to the ground, raising a cloud of dust and feathers.

Merle quickly bolted inside to get Allen.

&&&

"Emperor Dornkirk, the operation was successful. The Dragon almost broke through, but we caught him at the last moment and sent him back to Gaea."

"Good," replied Dornkirk. "Now we can finally achieve our true destiny."

&&&

Hitomi finished her run in a bit of a daze. _What happened?_ she thought to herself. _Why didn't he come for me?_

What happened next was a blur to her. She vaguely recalled Yukari running over to her and clapping her on the back in congratulations. Amano had walked over as well, but she didn't recall saying goodbye to him or walking home with Yukari chattering all the way.

All she could think of was, _He didn't come for me. He didn't come. . ._


	2. Bringing Back the Past

Van blinked slowly and groaned. His head felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it and the rest of his body felt similarly mistreated.

"Well it's about time you woke up," said a cheerful voice. Van turned to see Millerna smiling at him carrying a glass of water and a roll of fresh bandages.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, or tried to ask. All that came out was a dry croak. Millerna offered him the cup and helped him to drink it. After taking a few greedy gulps, he repeated his question.

"About three days," she answered. Her tone was light, but he could see by the bags under her eyes that she had been worried. He felt guilty. When he said nothing, Millerna asked tentatively, "What happened to Hitomi?"

Van's face fell as he remembered what had happened. He had been so close, he'd felt the pendant calling him, could almost see her face, but something had gone wrong. The only way it could have worked was if he and she had both wanted it bad enough. He knew that he had, but perhaps she did not feel the same way. Maybe she was happy wherever she had gone. Maybe she hadn't wanted to return. Abruptly, he realized that she had probably gone back to her world. With her friends and family around her, she would probably forget all about Gaea…and him. He remembered her last words to him: _I hate war. I hate this world!_

Millerna watched his face harden suddenly. His emotions, a moment ago so open and easy to read had been erased as if a door had slammed in her face. "She's not coming back," he said shortly and she knew better than to ask any more.

Quietly, she gathered the glass and bandages and left the room. She could redress his wounds later. Right now, he needed some time to himself.

&&&

_Three years later…_

Hitomi clicked off the television set with a bored sigh. Getting up, she stretched and checked her watch. It was 5:30, time enough for her to get a good jog in before it got dark. Grabbing a jacket and slipping into some running shoes, she left the house, locking the door behind her. She chose a direction and began to jog, letting the steady rhythm of her feet hitting the sidewalk soothe her.

Her parents were out of town at her brother's international soccer tournament. Since she was having midterms, she couldn't go with them, but it was the weekend so she had the house all to herself with nothing to do but study. She'd already exhausted all of her brain cells cramming all the information she could find into her head, so she'd decided to take the afternoon off before she went completely insane.

She gave her feet free reign to take her wherever they wished as she lost herself in her thoughts of nothing in particular. She had quit track soon after that night. Everyone had wondered why, but she didn't really even know the answer herself, but every time she started running on that track, she'd think of him. She'd wonder why he hadn't come. She just couldn't take those doubts anymore. Still, she didn't give up running completely, liking to go on an easy jog every once in a while to clear her mind.

Her life was normal. She had friends and went to college. She lived in a dorm but was close enough to home that she could go back for the weekends. She did relatively well in school, receiving mostly A's or B's. She'd grown out her hair so that she could tie it in a ponytail now, tired of constantly having to brush it out of her eyes.

Yukari had gone to the US to study a few months ago, or at least, that's why her parents let her go. Hitomi knew that there was also a certain former track captain waiting for her there. After Hitomi had realized Yukari's feelings for him, she made every effort to put them together and, as she'd expected, they'd hit it off right away. Hitomi was happy for them. One look and even a halfwit could tell that they were meant to be. Still, their moving away had made her feel even lonelier and not a little bit jealous of what they shared. Sure, she'd made new friends, but none of them were as close as Yukari.

She suddenly realized that it had grown late. The sun was almost setting and gray clouds hovered ominously above. _Better start heading back_, she thought to herself. She looked around to get here bearings and decide on a way back and was surprised to find herself at her old middle school. She checked the sky again and looked at the fenced off campus. _A little peek around won't hurt,_ she thought. _I'll just sprint home. It's not that far._

She walked around a bit to find the door, but it was locked. _Of course. It's a weekend. What did I expect?_ She considered turning back, but then she remembered an opening in the fence that she'd accidentally discovered a while ago. _I wonder if they've closed that up…_ She walked around the school a bit farther and found the bush that she was looking for. Pulling aside a few leaves, she found the opening. With a bit of difficulty, she climbed through and emerged on the side of the school. She brushed herself off and looked around, amazed by how little had changed.

She explored a bit and discovered everything to be more or less exactly how she'd left it. She arrived last at the track. Looking down on it from the bleachers above, the rusty brown oval with clear white lines separating it into different lanes seemed so familiar, as if she'd only just left yesterday. She had the sudden urge to go down and look around more closely. She made her way to the track, but as soon as her feet felt springy yet firm track beneath her, she felt the urge to run.

The sky was growing darker and darker. The sun had already disappeared below the horizon and the last rays of its light were beginning to fade from the sky. Still, she paid it no heed as she placed her foot at the starting line and bent to take the ready position. There were no starting blocks out for her to use, but that didn't matter much.

She imagined the gun sounding and she took off, her legs pumping steadily as she easily fell into the pattern that she'd repeated everyday for years of her life. Her breath came steadily as she shot past the 200-meter mark and kept going.

Suddenly, an image appeared in front of her. It was a young man. A man who's face she knew altogether too well. It was the same one that haunted her dreams every night. Yet, it had changed. The sharp, boyish features from before had hardened and gained a confident boldness. His shoulders had broadened and his messy raven hair had grown into a wild mane. He was taller. All of this occurred to her within seconds, but she was going too fast and could not stop her self from running straight through the apparition. The last the she remembered was feeling herself drowning in those maroon pools conveying a mixture of surprise and, somehow, hurt.


	3. The End of the Beginning

Van woke with a start. There was a sudden silence in the room as the men around the table looked at him, most with compassion, a few with annoyance. He'd fallen asleep in the middle of a war council…again.

He couldn't seem to remember a time when he wasn't constantly listening for the horns that announced an attack, or waking up in the middle of the night to attend an emergency war council to discuss a plan to exploit the latest enemy weakness that they had just discovered. He was one of army's main weapons with his Escaflowne and was usually in the front line fighting. All that work tended to tire you out and he did almost twice as much as anybody else. Still, he bore it all without complaint, almost rebelliously, in fact. It was as if he were trying to prove to the world that he could stand whatever it threw at him.

Folken stopped his explanation of his newest battle strategy for a moment and looked at his younger brother. "Van?" he asked. "Are you okay?" His expression showed his concern but knew that his younger sibling would have none of it, nor would he believe that Folken did not have any ulterior motives up his sleeve.

"Yeah," said Van tersely. "I just have to get some air. Continue on without me."

Folken looked as if he wanted to say something more, but seemed to decide against it. Instead, he nodded and said, "I'll have Allen explain it to you later."

Van nodded and left the room. Even after Folken had proved his loyalty over and over with his brilliantly thought out tactics and inside information from the Zaibach, earning him the respect and trust of all the other generals and leaders of the Fanelian army. Van, however, held back. He saw the need for Folken in their camp, but he still couldn't forgive him for the things that he'd done. Their relationship was purely professional, never any extra words exchanged. Folken sighed and returned to explaining his plan to the others.

Van went into a small side garden used mainly for growing herbs and spices. He sat down on an overturned flowerpot. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and ran a hand through his hair. Bags seemed to have taken up a permanent residence under his eyes and he hadn't shaved for three days. The lines around his eyes and mouth were deeper and his hair had lost its former gloss. He was underweight and malnourished. All in all, he looked like a complete train wreck, but that wasn't what was bothering him at the moment.

He hadn't thought about her for years. Why now? It was just a dream, but he somehow felt that it was something more. She'd definitely grown. Her face had grown longer and a bit slimmer, making her look more mature than innocent, but her eyes were still wide and dreamy, like that of a young child. She seemed well, her noted, but he couldn't help thinking that something about the way she carried herself seemed sad. He shook the thought off. It was just a selfish hope that she would reject her home and return to his side. Besides, something as obscure as that would be impossible to tell from the few dream-moments that he'd seen her for.

He believed it to be real. Something about the quality of the dream was just different. He knew that it had really happened, but that didn't explain why. For three years, he'd consumed himself with winning the war, working himself to exhaustion so that his nights were dreamless and there was never time in a day for frivolous thoughts. It had worked up until just then.

He looked up at the sky as if searching for some sort of answer and seemed to finally notice it for the first time in at least a year. It was a nice day and the small patch of sky that he could see through the high garden walls was clear and blue. As he watched, however, clouds crowded in and obscured his view. They came gradually, in wisps at first. Before he knew it, everything had gotten darker and a small raindrop landed on his nose.

He got up with a sigh and wiped the drop off. Dusting himself off, he gave one last glance at the darkening sky before heading back inside.

&&&

Hitomi woke to a large drop of water in her eye. Groaning, she wiped it away and opened her eyes. The first thing that she did was look around her to get her bearings. She found, with surprise and disappointment, that she was still on the track and it had become pitch black outside.

As the rain began to come down harder, she got up, dusted herself off, and began to make her way home in the pouring rain, puzzling over what had happened. Was it a dream? Or maybe a vision. Maybe she had just imagined it all.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the police car in front of her house until she was almost upon it. Two officers stepped out as she approached. She couldn't see their features very well through the rain, but she made out a tall, hulking figure with a large mustache. His partner was a mulatto with a much smaller build.

"What's going on here?" she asked when she got close enough.

"Are you Hitomi Kanzaki?" asked the mulatto officer.

Hitomi nodded. "Yes," she answered incase he couldn't see. "Is something wrong?" She was starting to feel uneasy. What could a couple of police officers want with her?

"Perhaps we'd better go inside," the officer said. His partner remained silent and watchful, not quite seeming the talkative type.

This made Hitomi even more nervous and she fumbled with her key as the policemen waited. Stepping inside, she took off her muddy shoes and drenched jacket, hanging it by the door. She offered the officers a seat and asked if they'd like anything.

"Actually, I think you'd better sit down, Miss Kanzaki," the officer said gently.

"O-okay." She took a seat on the couch, watching the two policemen nervously. The same officer that had been speaking so far cleared his throat hesitantly.

"I'm very sorry, but there's been an accident…"

Hitomi recalled little of what happened next. When she thought back on the event, all she'd remember was an overwhelming numbness seeping over her and snippets of the officer's words.

A plane crash…engine malfunction…middle of the ocean…no survivors…very sorry… 

Some time later, she realized that she was still sitting on the couch and the sun was just peaking over the horizon. The rain had stopped and a new day was beginning.

Feeling as if she should get up and do something, she went over and locked the door. The policemen had left some time ago, though she couldn't recall actually seeing them go.

She stood there in the doorway and couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do next. She was still overwhelmed by that strange numbness. She knew that she should be crying or screaming. She knew that, in a single second, she'd lost her entire family. She saw it all clearly, in a cruelly logical sense. She had to get a job, quit college perhaps. She would need to move out and getting a smaller apartment.

She knew how she should have been reacting and wondered vaguely why she wasn't. But she couldn't even set about what she thought she had to do. Instead, she turned and headed up the stairs to her room. Flopping down on the bed, she stared at the ceiling with that same feeling of emptiness for a few minutes, thinking of absolutely nothing. Her mind was blank and it seemed like too much of an effort to find something to think about.

Eventually, she drifted off to sleep. Her dreams were troubled, but there was nothing specific. It was more like a jumble of emotions that berated her from all sides. When she woke, it was still with the same nothingness. There was an underlying heaviness in her chest, but she chose to ignore it.

She got up and noted that she'd fallen asleep in her jogging clothes and they were still damp from the rain. Stripping them off, she ran a hot shower for herself.

&&&

It was not until later that day, when she went to get her backpack out of her car to do some more studying that what happened finally hit her. She had opened the door and found a small slip of paper inside that she'd put there earlier as a reminder. On it was the flight number and arrival time of the plane that her family had taken. She was supposed to go pick them up at the airport, but she never would.

Realization hit her like a flying sack of potatoes. It suddenly became hard to breathe. It felt like the air had been sucked from around her. Her head spun and she felt a sob escape from her. With that, the dam inside her broke and the tears flooded out, her sobs uncontrollable. She cried until she had no tears left and then fell asleep, exhausted.

When she woke again, it was dark. She was sore from falling asleep in her car and her face was crusted with dried tears. Her head seemed to clear a bit, though the loss still weighed heavily upon her chest, like a giant weight that got heavier every time she thought about it.

She went inside and washed her face, forcing her thoughts away with an effort. She knew with certainty that she couldn't go on living here. She considered moving to the states with Yukari and Amano, but knew that she would only be a burden to them. There was only one other place that she could go

Turning off the faucet, she dried her face. She hurried into her room and grabbed her old duffel bag, stuffing it with two sets of clothes, her CD player, and some toiletries. She hesitated before putting a framed picture of her family in on top of it all. She then reached under the bed and pulled out a dusty old box. It was a plain wooden box made of mahogany colored wood with a glossy finish underneath the dust. She brushed the top of the box off and opened it slowly. Inside was her pendant. The stone had gone cold and lifeless after that night, but now, it seemed to her to hold a different sort of gleam on its smooth, pink surface. It didn't glow, but there seemed almost to be an expectant air about it. She slipped the silver chain on around her neck and closed the box, returning it to its position under her bed.

She was ready to go. Sitting down at her desk, she wrote a quick letter to Yukari, explaining that she would be going away for a while and telling her not to worry. She folded it quickly and stuffed it in an envelope with Yukari's address on it. Grabbing her bag and taking one last look around the house, she left it and all remnants of her former life behind. There was no turning back for her anymore.

At the end of her driveway, she put the letter into the mailbox and raised the little red flag to indicate that there was mail.

She got into her car and drove to her old middle school, parking outside the hole in the fence. She left the keys in the car and pushed aside the branches that covered the opening. She crawled through first and dragged her bag after her.

When she reached the track, she hesitated somewhat. What was she supposed to do now? The last time, Van had come and taken them back with that energist. Now she was all by herself. She stood there for a moment, perplexed. The pendant, though different, still refused to glow for her. It remained dull despite all her efforts. She was beginning to have second thoughts when she saw a light growing in the sky. It came slowly, at first, as if hesitant, or perhaps rusty, but she recognized it as the same pillar of light that had taken her to Gaea that last time. It touched the ground and she stepped into it like she might an elevator. Smoothly, it lifted her into the air and out of her world.


End file.
